1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electro-optical reader for reading a target, especially one- and two-dimensional symbols, by using a solid-state imager for image capture and a target illuminator for directing illumination light to and through a window on the reader and, more particularly, to configuring the window to redirect the illumination light incident thereon from the illuminator and reflected from the window away from the imager to enhance reader performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flat bed laser readers, also known as horizontal slot scanners, have been used to electro-optically read one-dimensional bar code symbols, particularly of the Universal Product Code (UPC) type, at a point-of-transaction workstation in supermarkets, warehouse clubs, department stores, and other kinds of retailers for many years. As exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,059,779; 5,124,539; and 5,200,599, a single, horizontal, planar window is set flush with, and built into, a horizontal countertop of the workstation. Products to be purchased bear an identifying symbol and are typically slid or swiped across the horizontal window through which a multitude of scan lines is projected in a generally upwards direction. When at least one of the scan lines sweeps over a symbol associated with a product, the symbol is processed and read.
The multitude of scan lines is generated by a scan pattern generator which includes a laser for emitting a laser beam at a mirrored component mounted on a shaft for rotation by a motor about an axis. A plurality of stationary mirrors is arranged about the axis. As the mirrored component turns, the laser beam is successively reflected onto the stationary mirrors for reflection therefrom through the horizontal window as a scan pattern of the scan lines.
Instead of, or in addition to, a horizontal slot scanner, it is known to provide a vertical slot scanner, which is typically a portable reader placed on the countertop such that its planar window is generally vertical and faces an operator at the workstation. The generally vertical window is oriented perpendicularly to the horizontal window, or is slightly rearwardly inclined. The scan pattern generator within the workstation also projects the multitude of scan lines in a generally outward direction through the vertical window toward the operator. The generator for the vertical window can be the same as or different from the generator for the horizontal window. The operator slides or swipes the products past either window from right to left, or from left to right, in a “swipe” mode. Alternatively, the operator merely presents the symbol on the product to the center of either window in a “presentation” mode. The choice depends on operator preference or on the layout of the workstation.
These point-of-transaction workstations have been long used for processing transactions involving products associated with one-dimensional symbols each having a row of bars and spaces spaced apart along one direction, and recently used for processing two-dimensional symbols, such as Code 49, as well. Code 49 introduced the concept of vertically stacking a plurality of rows of bar and space patterns in a single symbol. The structure of Code 49 is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,239. Another two-dimensional code structure for increasing the amount of data that can be represented or stored on a given amount of surface area is known as PDF417 and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,786. Such two-dimensional symbols are generally read by electro-optical readers operative for projecting a laser beam as a raster of scan lines, each line extending in one direction over a respective row, and all the lines being spaced apart along a height of the two-dimensional symbol in a generally perpendicular direction.
Both one- and two-dimensional symbols can also be read by employing solid-state imagers. For example, an image sensor device may be employed which has a one- or two-dimensional array of cells or photosensors, which correspond to image elements or pixels in a field of view of the device. Such an image sensor device may include a one- or two-dimensional charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device and associated circuits for producing electronic signals corresponding to a one- or two-dimensional array of pixel information over a field of view. In addition to the aforementioned symbols, scanners employing image sensor devices can also read general two-dimensional symbols, such as DataMatrix, which cannot be read by existing laser-based scanners.
It is therefore known to use a solid-state device for capturing a monochrome image of a symbol as, for example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,703,349. It is also known to use a solid-state device with multiple buried channels for capturing a full color image of a target as, for example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,895. It is common to provide a two-dimensional CCD with a 640×480 resolution commonly found in VGA monitors, although other resolution sizes are possible.
It is also known to integrate an illuminator with the reader, especially when the symbol is to be read under dim or dark ambient light. The illuminator may be externally mounted on, or internally mounted in, a housing of the reader. With an internal illuminator, the illumination light generated by the illuminator within the housing is directed to and through the window to the symbol.
Although generally satisfactory for its intended purpose, the use of an internal illuminator is disadvantageous. A portion of the illumination light incident on the window is reflected therefrom into the housing away from the window and reaches the imager. This reflected portion of the illumination light creates undesirable hot spots in the captured image of the symbol and may significantly compromise automatic exposure settings and reader performance.
The art has proposed to eliminate such hot spots by various means. For example, the externally mounted illuminator, as mentioned above, does not produce any reflections inside the housing. However, the externally mounted illuminator is subject to breakage, especially if dropped or roughly handled, and is exposed to environmental hazards such as dust and like contaminants. Also, the externally mounted illuminator is not located on the optical axis of the imager, thereby causing a parallax effect and non-uniform illumination at both near and far working distances from the reader. In addition, when a target is placed very close to an imaging reader having an externally mounted illuminator, the center of the target is not well illuminated, if at all. The external illumination will be positioned in a ring around the periphery of the window. The center of the target will, at best, be more dimly illuminated than the outer region of the target at the periphery.
Another technique for eliminating such hot spots resides in positioning the window in close proximity to the imager so that the reflected portion of the illumination light cannot reach the imager. However, this technique limits the location of the window and constrains the overall design of the housing.
In the art of laser scanners in which a laser within a housing directs a laser beam to and through a planar window to a symbol for reflection therefrom to a photodetector within the housing, it is also known to tilt the window to prevent the laser beam incident on the window from reflecting back to the photodetector and compromising the detection and successful reading of the symbol. However, tilting the window, although acceptable in some applications, is not altogether desirable in other applications, for example, for an imaging reader, because the tilt angle required would be large, i.e., on the order of 45 degrees, which may be too large and difficult to implement in certain imaging readers and overly constrain the industrial design of the reader.